Sweet Freedom
by KeybladeDetweiler
Summary: Vanitas is alone in the Keyblade Graveyard, believing his Master has abandoned him. When Ventus, who can't find his friends Terra and Aqua, finds him alone, he tries to cheer him up by telling him that being without a Master might not be that bad. Canon based AU, Platonic Ventus/Vanitas.


Vanitas sat slumped against one of the discarded Keyblades that was permanently jammed in the desolate ground of the Keyblade Graveyard. He let out a long, heavy sigh as he stared at the ground through the tinted glass that shrouded his head. He sat like this for a while, until he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. He looked up to see who it was. He recognized the spiky haired blonde in an instant.  
_Ventus,_ he thought, looking back at the ground. As much as he liked Ventus, it wasn't a good time for the spirited and friendly boy to show up.  
"Hey Vanitas!" Ventus said, smiling down at the masked boy.  
"Hello Ventus." Vanitas replied in a monotone voice.  
"Something wrong?" Ventus asked, ignoring the way Vanitas spoke to him, which usually meant, "Go away, please.".  
"Yes." came the reply.  
"What's wrong? Maybe I can help."  
"I don't think you can, unless you can bring my Master back."  
"What happened?"  
"He disappeared. After he fought your friend Terra up on the plateau."  
"He disappeared?"  
"Yeah."  
"I'm so sorry about that Vanitas." Ventus said solemnly, his eyes now sad. "I know how you feel."  
"How would you?" Vanitas said coldly. He instantly resented it, and then said in a slightly warmer tone, though still rather bitter, "You still have a Master." as he turned his head away from Ventus.  
"No. I don't." Ventus said, shaking his head. He sat down beside Vanitas and hugged his legs to his chest. "Eraqus was struck down." he whispered in a choked voice.  
Vanitas glanced over at Ventus, who had tears in his eyes. For Ven, losing Eraqus was like losing a father. He placed a hand on Ventus's shoulder as he asked, "Who struck him down?"  
"I didn't see. But I think it might've been Terra."  
"Terra? As in, your best friend Terra?"  
"Who else do I know named Terra?"  
"Never mind. But, that….that's just wrong. Your best friend struck down your Master."  
Ventus buried his head in his knees and whispered a barely audible "Yeah. I know."  
Vanitas sighed. "I guess you do know how I feel. A little bit."  
"What do you mean by "a little bit"?" asked Ventus, lifting his head  
"The only person I ever listened to was my Master. He gave me every command I've ever followed. I rarely ever did anything besides what he told me."  
"What's your point?"  
"What I'm saying is, I'm entirely lost without him. I don't know where I'm supposed to go or what I'm supposed to do."  
"So you're just going to sit here?"  
"Until he comes back."  
"What if he doesn't come back?"  
"Then I guess I'll sit here forever." He sighed again, and as he did, he pulled off his helmet, something he rarely ever did. Ventus wondered why he always wore the helmet, since underneath he looked like a normal boy (Except for his golden eyes).

Ventus thought for a moment. Then, he smiled and put an arm around Vanitas.  
"You know, your Master isn't and never was in complete control of you. You can do what you want as well."  
"Really?" Vanitas seemed shocked.  
"Yeah. Eraqus told me to stay home in the castle at The Land of Departure, but you showed up and got me to follow Terra. I wasn't listening to my Master then."  
"I bet you listened to him all the time. The only reason you didn't listen to him then was because you wanted to prove me wrong." Vanitas looked over at another of the discarded Keyblades, tearing his gaze away from Ventus. _Even though I was always right,_ he thought.  
"And because I wanted to see other worlds." Ventus said, glancing up at the sky. "I always wanted to, but I pretended like I didn't care so that the Master wouldn't get worried. Until the day you showed up and talked me into leaving."  
"Sounds like I made you get off your butt and finally do it." Vanitas said with a content laugh.  
"Yeah. You did." Ventus laughed.  
"Only because my Master told me to." Vanitas was morose again. "I only know to do what he commands me to. Nothing else." _Well, maybe a few extra things on the side. But other than that, nothing else,_ he thought.  
"Well, stop thinking like that. Without your Master, who sounds like a control freak, you can go anywhere you want and do anything you want. You're free now."  
"Free?" Vanitas pondered this. A mischievously wicked grin then spread across his face. "So I can go fight anyone I want to? Or go to any world and unleash Unversed on anyone?"  
"I guess you could," Ventus said with a pathetic laugh. "But that's not what I had in mind. You could try finding some friends."  
"I don't need friends. I have the Unversed."  
"The Unversed? Those don't count. Come on, everyone needs friends, Van."  
"Good luck finding people who actually want to hang out with me."  
"I want to hang out with you." Ventus said, again smiling at Vanitas.  
"You do?" Vanitas raised his eyebrows.  
"Yeah. And right now, I don't have anyone else to hang out with. Terra and Aqua are gone."  
Vanitas looked straight ahead. "Well, what are we supposed to do?"  
"Well, we can go somewhere, maybe visit another world, or we can just sit here and talk if you want to. It doesn't matter. There aren't any orders."  
"No orders, huh." Vanitas said to himself. He was starting to adjust to his newfound freedom.  
"What do you want to do?" Ventus asked him.  
"I don't really know, Ven. All I could do in other worlds is release Unversed. They don't want someone like me around."  
"I'm sure they'll give you another chance." Ventus said reassuringly. "You won't know until you actually go and ask them for another chance."  
"Are you really sure about that, or are you just trying to make me feel better?" Vanitas was looking at Ventus again.

Ventus really _wasn't_ sure if the denizens of the other worlds would give Vanitas another chance, considering all the damage the Unversed had done. He was only saying that they would to be positive, and to get Vanitas to quit moping around.  
"I'm just trying to make you feel better." Ventus admitted. "But maybe they will give you a chance."  
"I thought so." Vanitas looked away again. "Really Ven, I don't think so."  
"Aw, come on Vanitas. At least get up and do _something_!" Ventus sighed, nearly giving up. "Don't sit here forever, wondering if your Master will ever come back for you."  
"You want me to do something? Ok then. Let's fight." Vanitas leapt to his feet and summoned his Keyblade, Void Gear.  
"Fight? That isn't what I meant." Ventus said, looking up at him.  
"Well, it's something. Come on, one round. Or are you just going to play the pacifist like you usually do?"  
Ventus rolled his eyes and then got up. "Fine, we'll fight. But if I win, I'm taking you to get ice cream."  
"And if I win, I stay right here."

The two boys got into their battle stances and sparred. After being hit with a bright beam of light from Ventus, Vanitas fell.  
"I won. Ice cream!" Ven cried enthusiastically, reaching a hand out to help Vanitas up.  
"How about best two out of three?" Vanitas asked, kneeled on the ground. Ventus handed him a potion.  
"Come on, ice cream will do you good." Ventus said as Vanitas took the potion. "And I'm taking you to get some really tasty ice cream."  
"Where at?"  
"You'll see." Ventus said as he prepared to press the piece of armor that rested on his shoulder. "Put your helmet on and get ready to go."  
Vanitas did as he was asked. Ventus hit the piece of armor, and after a flash of bright light, was covered head to toe in armor. He pointed his Keyblade in the air and opened a portal to the Lanes Between. Then he threw his Keyblade up into the air and it returned in its glider form. He boarded and flew up into the portal, and Vanitas then levitated himself into the air with a dark force and followed. The portal closed behind them.

A little while later, they landed in Disney Town.

"Why are we here?" Vanitas asked, looking around. He obviously disapproved of the colorful town.  
"They have the best ice cream here." Ventus said. "C'mon." He led Vanitas over to Huey, Dewey, and Louie and their ice cream machine.  
"Two ice cream cones, please." Ventus said.  
"What flavor?" asked Huey.  
"Strawberry chocolate swirl. What do you want, Vanitas?"  
"Hmm….black licorice."  
Huey gave Vanitas a surprised look. "Ok. One strawberry chocolate swirl and one black licorice." He said, turning on the machine and punching in the flavors. Seconds later he had two ice cream cones in hand and gave the boys their respective flavors. Ventus handed him some munny in return, and he then led Vanitas to the gazebo in the center of town. The two of them sat on the steps to eat their ice cream.  
"So Vanitas, what do you think?" asked Ventus with a smile as he took a lick of his ice cream.  
Vanitas sampled his own ice cream cone and loved it. He turned to Ventus and gave him a smile.  
"Freedom tastes sweet."


End file.
